William Mahoney is facing charges related to a Sept. 18 confrontation with police on a school bus in Danville, in which Mahoney was shot and wounded. / Courtesy Vermont State Police

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Free Press Staff Writer

A man whom police say radioed threats from a Danville school bus and was later shot by a state trooper has been cited into court to face related charges.

William Mahoney, 36, of St. Johnsbury is accused of crashing a stolen car into a granite highway divider on U.S. 2 in Danville the night of Sept. 18, climbing aboard a school bus parked outside Danville School, and using the vehicle’s radio to broadcast threats over the town frequency.

State police cited him Thursday to appear in court Jan. 28 for an arraignment. He will remain jailed at least until then.

State troopers responding to the crash in September heard the threats and traced them to the school bus, according to state police. The authorities said when state police Sgt. Brian May confronted Mahoney inside the bus, Mahoney reached toward a holster he was wearing, ignored May’s orders and stepped toward the sergeant. May then shot at Mahoney five times, hitting him once in the back. Police said they later found Mahoney’s holster to be empty.

May, a trooper of 15 years, was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting. He returned to his post as patrol commander at the St. Johnsbury barracks Sept. 26.

Mahoney spent more than a month in a hospital recovering from his gunshot wound, state police said. He was discharged Oct. 30 and was immediately arrested on an outstanding furlough violation and jailed at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.

Asked why police waited nearly two more months to cite Mahoney, Caledonia County State’s Attorney Lisa Warren said that during that time, Mahoney received additional medical treatment at the Springfield prison.

“He’s been recuperating,” Warren said. “He was already lodged, so we didn’t have to worry about where he was.”

State police cited Mahoney to appear in Vermont Superior Court in St. Johnsbury on the following charges: aggravated operation of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, simple assault on a law enforcement officer and unlawful trespass.